Look Out The Window
by Kettle Orbit
Summary: Fate/Extra and Fate/Prototype crossover oneshot: Ayaka is low on  self-confidence. Saber tries to reassure her.


_AlienWonton: No, I am not abandoning Do You Remember Me, and I should be updating that sometime this month. Meanwhile I wrote this today when I was supposed to be doing my homework, and decided to post it just because. It's been a while since I wrote anything anime-related, so this is a refreshing change. It was supposed to be a humorous fic, but somehow turned out rather...angsty?_

_[Insert Generic Disclaimer Here]_

_I took the female protagonist of Fate/Extra and replaced her with Sajyou Ayaka (from Fate/Prototype), albeit somewhat modified to fit the setting. Fate/Extra is not in the same universe as Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero, I believe, so Ayaka will be keeping her original Servant Saber (male King Arthur). I'm not sure if I got their personalities down, but enjoy!_

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><p>Sajyou Ayaka had never been the most social person in class. Instead she was the quiet girl sitting unnoticed in the corner, hidden behind her silence and her big round glasses. She didn't even have the good grades normally expected of someone occupying this niche, and her face was nothing short of plain even without her glasses. Even her hacking skills were mediocre, maybe average at best - her sister Manaka had been the genius of the family before she died and took their father with them.<p>

Taking this into account, Ayaka honestly had no idea how she had managed to get _this_ Servant in particular, out of all the Legendary Souls out there. Not that she was complaining, not at all...maybe the system here followed the rule of 'opposites attract'?

"Master, please..."

Ayaka snapped back to reality when she bumped into a boy wearing a student's uniform. She quickly opened her mouth to apologize, but the boy had already walked away with a small apologetic bow. Ayaka took a closer look and blinked - the NPCs really were extremely life-like.

"...watch where you're going..." Saber's voice floated in from the seemingly empty space beside her, tinged with worry and slight amusement mixed with exasperation. Ayaka smiled sheepishly and quickened her pace, taking the stairs two at a time and jogging to her classroom-turned-headquarters.

As usual Saber was already there somehow, despite having been next to her the entire time. He was in his usual spot by the window, dressed in clothes Ayaka had managed to pilfer from an NPC's bag. Ayaka had once asked him why he liked that spot so much - apparently when he was alive he had enjoyed looking out the window at his kingdom and subjects, and often did so to remind himself that _this_ was what he lived for, and wasn't it worth it?

...Sometimes it was just too easy to forget that this handsome young man was the legendary _King Arthur_, and was by all accounts on the same level as that disconcerting (and flowery-armored!) Gawain, if not higher. Of course, that was only if Ayaka managed to keep up and improve her game; the Servant's available power was dependant on the Master, after all.

Ayaka sighed and closed her eyes. Saber deserved a better Master, no doubt about it. Rin, Leo, that Rani girl...even Dan Blackmoore, who was to be their opponent later in the week. There were probably plenty of other capable Masters around as well - certainly more capable than _Ayaka_, who had just barely scraped by in the prelims and had to be rescued from an _effigy_.

Suddenly Ayaka's face felt a lot lighter. Her eyes flew open and she saw a rather blurred Saber standing in front of her with a gentle smile, glasses dangling from one hand. Immediately Ayaka felt her face heating up; she squeaked and shot to her feet. Once standing, however, she wasn't quite sure what to do - should she cover her face and look pathetic doing so, or should she try to get back her glasses and hope that Saber would return them soon?

"Master!" Saber leaned down so that they were eye to eye, his smile widening slightly. "Come look! There is something interesting happening outside." Before Ayaka could protest he grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to the window, where he gave her back her glasses but kept his hand on her arm. Ayaka put on her glasses and looked out. This particular room afforded them a nice view of the fountain and the chapel; she could see various Masters loitering about with the occasional NPC thrown in as well. Some of the Masters wore their own clothes; others had opted to keep the school uniforms they wore during the preliminaries.

Grail War aside, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Ayaka looked at Saber, confused.

"Sir Blackmoore is an experienced warrior," Saber said, his eyes fixed on the scene below. "He is...for lack of a better word...accustomed to battle and all that it entails." He placed his free hand against the glass and nodded at the people outside. "Master, every person you see down there is a potential enemy. What do you see in them?"

Ayaka frowned; they were Masters, but she honestly couldn't see anything particularly special besides the occasional outrageous fashion sense. There were two girls sitting on a bench talking animatedly; on the bench next to them a small group of boys were laughing at something in a book. A brown haired boy walked out of the chapel talking to a girl with fox ears - probably a Servant since she vanished a moment later.

"Do you see?" Saber asked quietly. "If you ignore that Servant, this entire scene..."

"...is something that wouldn't be out of place in real life." Ayaka whispered, recalling her childhood. Sure, there had been dark times, but there had been good times as well, when she had been happy simply because she was alive. She distinctly remembered walking in the park with her father and watching all the people around her, carefree and happy.

Saber nodded and squeezed her hand. "There are constants in war, constants which soldiers keep close to their hearts. Be it honor, money, women, fame, or something else...a soldier must believe in those constants, and live by them. Sir Blackmoore strikes me as a true knight, who values honor and duty." Saber tilted his head and his smile took on a sad quality. "Those who live as true knights have long prepared themselves for death on a battlefield. Sometimes they have prepared themselves so well that they forget what it is like to be normal. A knight will always fight for something, but rarely will you see a knight fighting for the right to live. You, however...you are not a knight. You are inexperienced when it comes to battle. You are more a civilian than you are a soldier, and you are fighting for your life first and foremost, because you understand what it is like to live."

"So...are you saying that I'll be more motivated to win? Because I'm not prepared to die?"

"Yes. Of course, that is not to say that you should neglect your training. When I finally face Gawain I wish to do so with the knowledge that I can hold my own against him...for a few blows, at least." Saber glanced at her and grinned. "Whenever you are ready, Master."

Ayaka smiled back and fingered the Command Seal on the back of her hand. "Alright, then...let's go train!"


End file.
